St. Paul: U.S. 52 traffic to switch onto new Lafayette Bridge span

Traffic on U.S. 52 will be rerouted to the recently completed northbound span of the new Lafayette Bridge beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Both directions of U.S. 52 will close between Concord Street and Interstate 94 east of downtown St. Paul so northbound and southbound traffic can make the switch to the newly completed bridge span, which will have two lanes in each direction.

The traffic switch is expected to be complete by 5 a.m. Monday, weather permitting. To bypass the closure, drivers should follow posted detours to Interstate 494, U.S. 61 and I-94.

The traffic switch will allow crews contracted by the Minnesota Department of Transportation to demolish the old Lafayette Bridge and begin work to finish the southbound span of the new bridge.

Vehicle length restrictions for crossing the new and old portions of the Lafayette Bridge will be lifted Friday evening. The restrictions have been in place since February 2013.

"The State Patrol, they were stopping up to 60 truckers a day, at times, using that crossover, when they shouldn't have been," said Kent Barnard, a MnDOT spokesman.

The ramp from southbound U.S. 52 to Plato Boulevard will close as well. Instead, drivers will be able to use the Eaton Street exit to access businesses along Eaton and Plato and into downtown.

"That's really important for the people that go down to the St. Paul Downtown Airport at Holman Field to know that," Barnard said.

All ramps will reopen in September 2015, once the bridge project is complete.